James Ackerson
Were you looking for James Ackerson's brother, Ruwan, or James, the SPARTAN-II? Colonel James Ackerson is a member of the UNSC Army and the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). His CSV is impressive, as he had survived at least three battles against the Covenant. Early on in the war, he received a promotion and volunteered for a dozen black ops. Ackerson was employed in ONI as a liaison officer, likely being the one maintaining the relationship between ONI and the UNSC Army.Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 59 Background Childhood During his childhood, when Ackerson used to play with his brother Ruwan Ackerson, they imagined that they were fighting a dragon. Together, they created the imaginary Key of Osanalan whenever they imagined fighting the dragon.Halo: Uprising Issue 3 SPARTAN-III Program In 2531, he presented a plan, to the ONI Senior brass Captain Gibson, Rear Admiral Rich, and Vice Admiral Margaret O. Parangosky, which was the SPARTAN-III project. They approved and he went from field officer to a desk job. At first he was upset by this, but apparently grew to prefer it as opposed to his dangerous but more exciting job as a field officer.Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 43 It was Ackerson who chose Kurt-051 to serve as the commanding officer of the remaining Spartan-III's. Rivalries With the concurrent project underway, he focused all of his efforts on political maneuvers, rather than battlefield tactics. He was arrogant and condescending of most other people in ONI, even top-ranking brass such as Major General Nicolas Strauss. Ackerson, headed several high-profile projects at ONI. Because his projects were often competing with Dr. Catherine Halsey's projects for funds, he had a long-standing rivalry with Halsey and her Spartans. He was also a part of the UNSC Security Committee and Special Weapons Development at HIGHCOM. He had a private AI named Araqiel, whom he tasked with spying on Dr. Halsey and her "supposed to be confidential" SPARTAN-II project.Halo: First Strike, page 127: Facets and hard shimmering planes fit together into curled horns, an elongated jaw, and over-sized eyes that flickered with holographic fire. It turned and smiled at Dr. Halsey, baring razor jags of teeth. "Civilian consultant 409871," it said in a deep bass rumble that contained a crackle of thunder. "Doctor Catherine Halsey." "Araquiel," she muttered. "Did your master leave you behind when he was reassigned? Don't you have anything better to do than steal data from my SPARTAN program?" During the test of John-117's MJOLNIR Armor, he tried to make the SPARTAN fail, by authorizing the use of Lotus Anti Tank Mines, a squad of ODSTs, three 30mm chain-guns, and even an air strike with a SkyHawk Jump Jet against the SPARTAN, severely jeopardizing his life. Nevertheless, the SPARTAN succeeded, and Cortana sought revenge, by wreaking havoc in Ackerson's private files, hacking into his personal computer and sending a note requesting reassignment to front line service, and sending a large amount of money from his account to a brothel and then sending the bill to his home, where his wife would find it.Halo: The Fall of Reach pages 266-268 However, he managed to weasel his way out of this predicament. On his computer in CASTLE Base, Dr. Halsey found extensive records of the Spartan-IIs in a folder called S-III. One file was labeled CPOMZ and contained star charts. This suggested to Halsey that Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez was involved. The S-III file contained a folder titled "KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN." It contained the records of the CASTLE base and a complete survey of Mechanite Mountain, where the original mineral mines were located before they were taken over by ONI. Mechanite Mountain was an extinct volcano where Dr. Halsey found the Forerunner Crystal artifact. Halsey used this to locate the Spartan-IIIs on Onyx. In 2552, Ackerson was scheduled to operate on a front-line post. However, due to unknown reasons, he didn't follow the assignment and remained one of the members of the UNSC Security Committee.Halo: First Strike, page 101: Wagner thought Ackerson had been reassigned to a front-line post. Apparently he'd squirmed out of it. The Battle of Mare Erythraeum After this, it was unknown what happened to him after the latter strife, until he was found at the Battle of Mare Erythraeum. His UNSC Forces fought valiantly against the Covenant Loyalist Army, but were eventually routed and defeated. He was captured during the battle and interrogated by Jiralhanae Commander Lepidus of the Covenant Cruiser Triumphant Declaration in the Fleet of Furious Redemption. During this interrogation, Ackerson told Lepidus under duress of the Key of Osanalan, stating it was a Forerunner object located somewhere in Cleveland, Ohio, instigating the Covenant invasion of Cleveland. He told them this to ensure his brother's survival: The Covenant would invade Cleveland rather than destroy it, and Ruwan's knowledge of the Key of Osanalan (that it was a fake) would help him and others escape the city. It is not known if he is still alive or dead, pertaining to his condition. Trivia *He is the only known UNSC personnel to be in the UNSC Army. *After the destruction of the Spartan-III Beta Company, Ackerson tried to have Spartan B292 (Tom) reassigned to his personal command to head his own Special Warfare team. Instead, he agreed to have the Spartan reassigned to Camp Currahee, to train Gamma Company. Sources Ackerson, James Ackerson, James ja:James Ackerson